Yahoo: Players asked to kick A-Rod out of MLBPA

Via Jeff Passan & Tim Brown: Members of the players’ association sought to kick Alex Rodriguez out of the union, but were told it is not legally possible. Players felt betrayed after A-Rod sued the union as part of the suit he filed in an effort to get an injunction against his record 162-game suspension.

“It’s beyond disappointment,” said one unnamed player. “What brought it beyond disappointment was the fact he’s suing the union. Guys understand people make bad decisions, they lie when they’re embarrassed or trying to avoid punishment. Those are human qualities. Guys understand. But what made guys incensed is he would bring a suit against the union.”

A-Rod’s suit says the union and late chief Michael Weiner “completely abdicated its responsibility” to defend him during the appeals process. From what I understand he had to sue both MLB and MLBPA to have a chance in a federal case; leaving the union out of the suit wouldn’t have worked. Ironically, trying to kick A-Rod out of the union may strengthen his case.

“Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post saying that A-Rod is awful — the headline says he committed “his gravest sin” — in suing the MLBPA yesterday. In the article he says A-Rod “slanders a dead man” in mentioning Michael Weiner in his complaint, which is the most extreme version yet of the fallacy I discussed this morning.

Let’s inject some actual information into this, shall we? David Ziff, who is a lecturer at the University of Washington School of Law, alerts me to legal precedent which not only makes A-Rod’s suing of the MLBPA not a “grave sin,” but makes it absolutely essential if he is to advance his case.

A-Rod’s suit comes pursuant to Section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act or the “LMRA.” Here is what the law has to say about suing your union in such cases:

When union members sue their employer for breach of contract under section 301 of the LMRA, they must also state a prerequisite claim of breach of their union’s duty of fair representation. See Vaca v. Sipes, 386 U.S. 171, 186-87 (1967); Thomas v. United Parcel Serv., Inc., 890 F.2d 909, 914-16 (7th Cir. 1989). This is because ordinarily, union members must first use the grievance procedures specified in the CBA rather than directly sue the employer; only when the union has breached its duty to fairly represent the union members in that grievance process may the union members bring a claim against their employer. See, e.g., DelCostello v. Int’l Bhd. of Teamsters, 462 U.S. 151, 163-64 (1983).”

What is the over/under that Tony Clarke has informed his players of this rule?

jim p

What’s the legal aspect on your co-workers thinking you’re making them look like they need to be sued? In the court of opinion I think it’s ‘what a fucking dick, fuck him!’ to cite the technical language.

Col. John Matrix

And that is where Tony Clark should be doing his job and informing the MLB players union that this was an inevitable next step in this process, given the legal need to sue union in order to sue MLB. And he should also be informing them that this lawsuit in total is in the best interests of the union, as it attempts to prevent the league from completely circumventing the CBA by capriciously administering suspensions of inordinate and non-agreed-upon length for no good reason at all, except at the whim of a commissioner who has been an embarrassment to the game for pretty much his entire tenure. The union is not just about today’s players, but preserving the game for tomorrow’s players as well. If the union actually gave a shit about this, they would care about this gross violation by Selig and the commissioner’s office and not be taking giant steps back from one of their own.

edb

Col matrix. You and arod are losing this case in both the court of arbitration and public opinion and can soon add federal to that list. Enjoy your delusion of intelligence.

Annoyken

Edb. The col’s argument does sound intelligent, yours is more delusional.

Kiko Jones

I salute you Col.

Also, lest we forget, folks like Marvin Miller cared not one whit about the court of public opinion. If they did, the reserve clause would STILL be in effect.

Mantle28

I hope the suspension gets overturned

edb

Arod doesn’t get a pass for suing based on legal precedent. When he sued MLB he knew he had to sue the union too. If he loved baseball so much he would have just admitted his guilt and not screwed his fellow players who are paying the legal fees and have no benefit to gain whatsoever. He says he’s trying to protect the rights of future generations by screwing the present ones.

Col. John Matrix

And you, sir, are an idiot.

edb

Great argument. I stand corrected. Putz.

Annoyken

Entirely Dead Brain … You’ve obviously honed your argumentation skills sparring with your half-wit 3 year old sister. Wawawa. He should love baseball. Love it like life. Wawaaawa… He should just admit guilt and slink off into his gilded cage. Hey why don’t you lead by example and quit ruining baseball fandom with your insecure need to identify with laundry.

Annoyken

Entirely Dead Brain- you fight like half a half-wit. You obviously don’t understand adult conversation. You must go back to the kids table.

Btw. When was ‘ legal precedence’ cited?

RetroRob

We understand, says union member. People lie, people cheat, people kill, but for heaven’s sake, how could he sue the union?! That’s just below below. Well, so says the union member.

Jorge Steinbrenner

Thank you.

BamBamMusings

+1

Kevin G.

Players are also saying that they’ll hit ARod when he comes back. So I say we bat him lead off in 2015. His OBP will be like .600 from all the HBP.

edb

Gidp

TWTR

This is going to make a really cool TV movie one day…

CashmanNinja

Damn, no Logan Forsythe for the Yanks. He’s heading to…Tampa Bay :|

RetroRob

What did they send to get him?

CashmanNinja

It’s apparently a 4 player deal. Forsythe and a prospect to Tampa; Alex Torres and a prospect to San Diego. I think it’s actually a very good deal for the Padres. Torres is a lefty who racks up strikeouts. He may only be a bullpen guy in the majors, but the numbers are very impressive. At the MLB level he’s compiled a 5-3 record with 71 K in 66 IP, has an ERA under 2, and batters hit around .170 off of him.

Hearn

Makes no sense for Rays. Forsyte has some potential…but Torres is an excellent, young lefty reliever.

Good trade for Yanks…addition by subtraction from Rays IMHO.

The Other Mister D

I don’t think it will strengthen his case given that the desire to kick him out seems expressly to be a result of A-Rod’s suing the union. Even A-Rod would have a hard time arguing that the union didn’t protect him because they knew in the future he would file suit against him.

Annoyken

Do you actually read what you write? You make no sense. Not convinced? Read what you wrote again. Slowly – like you’re not making any sense. You write in English, but you have no idea what the words mean.

Mister D

I take the union side of union versus owners like 99.9% of the time, but when some guy takes a previously unprecedented suspension next year, I’ll laugh a little. And really, a tremendously awful job by union leadership not explaining to players what bailing on a member means to them big picture.

Reply mustang says:
January 22, 2014 at 9:44 am
The Yankees will sign Masahiro Tanaka to a massive seven-year, $155MM contract that contains an opt-out after the fourth season, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX

YESSSSS!!!!!

Reply mustang says:
January 22, 2014 at 9:46 am
Sorry Anthony
LOL

Francesa’s Disciples

We love you Alex! Selig is evil, everything baseball did regarding Biogenesis was wrong, and you are the patron saint of innocence in all of this. It doesn’t matter that you cheated and lied, all that matters is MLB’s shadiness!

Overturn the suspension, give Alex a percentage of every other player’s contract for suffering through this terrible persecution, appoint him player-commissioner, make him God.

We worship you Alex, you can do no wrong!

edb

All hail centaur!

Kiko Jones

Incredible how some are incapable of seeing the big picture.

“I think MLB is setting a bad precedent. Basically, circumventing the JDA and handing out whatever punishment they feel like based on the flimsiest of evidence, like no positive tests, does not bode well for the future. MLBPA dropped the ball here.”